Meehan is part of a more formal group that is trying to forge a bipartisan group. Led by Reps. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.), the group is trying to get members on board with a two-prong plan: move a clean continuing resolution to open government and accompany that with an end to the medical device tax but include an offset to the loss of revenue.

The group is trying to build momentum for its proposal and has so far reported having more than 100 signatures, including at least 20 Republicans and more Democrats. But it’s still an uphill battle to get members to endorse a plan that bucks their leadership.

Pelosi signaled on Thursday that she is encouraging her members to participate in bipartisan discussions even though she’s not behind the Dent-Kind deal.

“I think it’s really important for people to put their ideas on the table,” she said. “To the extent that they can have conversations in a bipartisan way, that’s what we came here to do and that’s very wholesome.”

Many agree that aside from some sort of grand bargain, the fastest path to ending the shutdown is moderates in the Republican Conference placing pressure on their more conservative colleagues to allow a vote on the “clean CR.”

Signs of cracks are forming in the Republican Conference. But even if it’s true what Democrats say – that more than 20 Republicans would be willing to vote for a clean CR if it were on the floor today – it’s going to take a larger group to make that vote become a reality.

Democratic leaders in both chambers are holding press conferences, rallying supporters and demanding a vote. But that doesn’t go very far beyond theatrics.

That’s why some Democrats say they’re working to talk with their colleagues that they know from committee work or from their delegation to try to persuade them to let a vote happen. For those who have been around for years, making friends across the political divide while doing committee work or traveling as a group is commonplace.

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said he’s spoken with three Republicans who haven’t publicly stated they’ll support the clean CR but have told him privately that they will.

“It’s frustrating, it’s embarrassing,” Ruppersberger said of the Democrats’ bargaining position in the House. “It goes to show that being in the minority is the pits sometimes. When you’re in the minority, you have to work harder, you have to develop relationships with the majority so that in the end, you can fulfill what you feel is the right thing.”

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said Democrats are starting to see the divisions in the Republican Conference they can potentially capitalize on.

“Cracks are beginning to appear in the cement around the feet of some of our Republican colleagues,” Connolly said. “It’s an interesting group, not all of one ideological stripe but a lot of them are hearing from back home.”

Connolly admits making alliances across the aisle has become more difficult.

“There are informal relationships that exist from committee work and travel, and maybe there may be personal contacts, the glue back home in your home states,” Connolly said. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities to get to know each other and get to spend time with each other, unfortunately. That’s also really deteriorated over the years and that’s definitely a factor, but they’re not nonexistent.”

He added, “Some of those social conversations are in fact occurring. I’ve been surprised how many of my Republican friends have privately said to me this is crazy and we’ve got to find a way out. And also many of them saying, we know how this ends, it ends with a clean CR. That has heartened me somewhat, not a lot, but somewhat.”

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said he is talking to members — and not just the ones who are publicly supporting a clean CR.

“I think only internal conflict is going to make Boehner crack, can we help that process, yes by continuing to be reasonable,” Grijalva said.

Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said he too has talked with some of his Republican colleagues and he sees that as the path to a solution.

“If those who say they want a CR will tell the speaker they insist on a CR and they’ll stop voting for these other piecemeal, it will happen,” he said. “It’s like any group, you have to in a group say what you think and tell people you’re going to do what you think. It’s very clear.”

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said she is talking to colleagues.

“I’ve inquired with some of them about the group seems to be growing of Republicans that would like to see a bill come to the floor that simply reopens the government without any string attached,” she said. “These are not meetings, these are conversations as we’re walking, chatting, going back and forth between votes and in some other settings. People talk to each other all the time.”

As for whether the talks could produce any resolution, Eshoo sees it simply. “It can’t hurt.”

Clarification: This story has been corrected to reflect that 20 Republicans and more Democrats have supported the bipartisan proposal.